"Fascinating social history". - "Publishers Weekly". A vivid, panoramic look at the closing months of the Civil War and the first months of peace and beyond. As the Civil War drew to a close, its final battles and unsolved issues left a complex legacy of pain for both the Southern plantation owners and the newly freed slaves. Using letters and diaries, gifted writer Michael Golay shows the impact of victory and defeat on ordinary Americans who both influenced events and were caught up in them. Golay takes a unique perspective by interweaving personal histories of soldiers and civilians with the larger events of the Civil War; illuminating the impact of Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas; postwar life in a devastated, chaotic South; and the promise of freedom for African American slaves. Based in large part on previously unpublished material, Golay provides a vivid look at the aftermath of a bitter struggle, and the efforts to solve problems where answers were elusive.
- ISBN10 0471395250
- ISBN13 9780471395256
- Publish Date 13 February 2001 (first published 21 September 1999)
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 23 October 2008
- Publish Country US
- Imprint John Wiley & Sons Inc
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 400
- Language English